Reader Lliam Amor spotted this 1968 Gene Hazelton Pete Alvarado (see Mark Evanier’s comment) Yogi Bear Sunday comic strip original on the Heritage Auction site and thought it was interesting because (a) “the great line work & paste up marks” and (b) “the fact that Yogi has no hesitation about reading Playbear in front of the young and impressionable Boo Boo…”

Why we love Bizarro.

Went to Meltdown Comics tonight and found out that two weeks from now they will be having a three day exhibit and opening reception for Project Bart. This exhibition features customized versions of Bart Simpson by 20 contemporary pop artists (the exhibit will come to New York’s Toy Tokyo Showroom Gallery in September). The Meltdown reception is on Wednesday August 1st from 7pm to 11pm.

While I was there I noticed the new Casper comics reprint book, assembled by Leslie Cabarga and myself, is now on sale. Not only on sale, but it was displayed as the “Manager’s Pick”. It was supposed to make its world premiere debut at the San Diego Comic Con next week, but it doesn’t quite have an embargo… like Harry Potter. So pick it up now, and enjoy!

At the San Diego Comic Con, Slave Labor Graphics is premiering a new comic book called Jellyfist, wriiten by Jhonen Vasquez (Invader Zim) and illustrated by J.R. Goldberg (Eric Goldberg’s daughter Jenny). I have no idea what it’s about, but the press release is hilarious. Both of them will be at the Con signing the book, all four days (Thursday through Sunday).

Last week, Pixar story artist Enrico Casarosa finished his personal watercolor comic The Venice Chronicles. For much of the past year, Enrico has been uploading the comic page-by-page to his blog, and at 124 pages, he finally considers the project completed. The entire thing is available to read online, either as a Flickr set or in Slickr gallery format. I’m a fan of Enrico’s distinctive sense of storytelling and humor, and I’m delighted to hear that he’s also looking to release the Chronicles in book form, either as a self-publishing project or through a mainstream publisher.

Kali Fontecchio posts a Little Audrey comic story (in Spanish) drawn by animator Steve Muffatti.

We may never see a Bill Watterson-approved animated version of Calvin and Hobbes but the following student film from Italy is a nice unofficial attempt. The animation was done by Donato Di Carlo at the CFP Milano film school.

(Thanks, Brian Jones)

COMIC SHOP PICK-OF-THE-WEEK: DC’s LOONEY TUNES No. 150.

It’s an all-star extravaganza as Daffy details his long, illustrious movie career. But the real highlight is the art by some contemporary cartoonists not normally associated with Looney Tunes material, including Neal Sternecky, Stephen DeStefano (see panel below), Peter Bagge, Bob Fingerman, Scott Shaw!, Mike Kunkel, Aaron Renier and Chynna Clugston. A very cool way to celebrate a milestone issue.